 Father Brown took over the role of parish priest after his predecessor, Father Amal Raj, requested a transfer from St. Philip Neri after having allegedly received death threats from a local Sri Lankan Navy officer.As part of ongoing military operations, the Sri Lankan Army shelled the St. Philip Neri's Church in Allaipiddy on August 13, 2006 killing 15 refugees sheltering there.Father Brown was publicly rebuked by navy officials for having moved all 300, mostly Catholic, Allaipiddy families to a safer Catholic church at Kayts eight miles away during military operations.